Edie's Baby Shower
by blackangus
Summary: Edie's girlfriends surprise her with a baby shower a couple of months prior to the birth of her and Pete's first child. This is a short multi-part story that features most of the original characters of "Peter Gunn" as well as a number of originals. No crime or drama in this one, just humor, family and romance.
1. January 7, 1962

**I don't own any of the original characters created by Blake Edwards and make no monetary profit from this story. When Pete and Edie decide to come out and play I pick up my tablet and wait for instructions.**

_This is the first chapter of a short multi-part story. Reviews and comments are always welcome and appreciated and often provide inspiration!_

**Edie's Baby Shower**

**• January 7, 1962**

Edie Gunn shifted uncomfortably on the passenger side of the big Plymouth Fury as her husband brought the car to stop in front of the two-story apartment house where Mother lived. They'd bought the shiny black sedan a few weeks before Christmas, Pete almost balking at trading in his 1960 Sport Fury convertible with it's beautiful high tailfins for the new four-door model that no longer sported either the ragtop or the fins. But with a baby on the way they both realized that the responsibilities of marriage and parenthood dictated they needed something other than the two-door coupe Pete had always opted for. And when Edie had teased him that maybe the pretty Pioneer station wagon parked nearby would be more appropriate he'd quickly decided he liked the sedan much better. He knew they would need a second car eventually, though they'd been managing with one just fine until now, and figured there was a wagon in their not too distant future whether he was ready for it or not. And if driving around town on Sundays in a red and white station wagon with four doors and a tailgate was ordained he was glad he would be doing it with the woman seated beside him.

"I wonder why Mother wanted us to come over so early," the blonde mused, lifting a hand to her mouth as she tried to stifle a yawn.

She and Pete had a standing dinner date with Edie's former employer the first Sunday evening of each month, dating back to that early mid-summer morning a year and a half ago when Mother's had burned to the ground. The evening seemed to arrive much earlier than usual this time around, with Christmas day falling barely two weeks prior and New Year's Day the past Monday. It had been a busy time, with Pete's dad paying a surprise visit on Christmas Eve and his lady friend Mary Ann McAllister arriving the Thursday after Christmas to join them at Edie's behest. The older couple had headed home to Iowa earlier in the week, the apartment strangely quiet that first day without them.

The PI's lips tilted in an amused smile as he pulled the key from the ignition and began to button up his wool coat. Hand on the door handle, he leaned sideways to give his wife a lingering kiss. She smiled as he released her lips, the warm tingling that began with the affectionate caress making her wish, somewhat selfishly she admitted to herself, that the snow hadn't stopped falling as early as it had and that the plows hadn't been so quick in clearing the streets. Being snowed in with her man on this downright cold night would have been nice, though visiting with Mother was always a welcome event.

"Probably figures you'll be asleep by nine and wants to be sure you're safely back home and tucked into your own little bed by then."

Pete's favorite smile curved the woman's lips, big and bright with humor yet projecting a flirtatious sexiness reserved for him alone. That smile had bewitched him the very first night he'd seen her on the stage at Mother's, before they'd even met, and it hadn't lost it's attraction for him in the years since. Edie reached out a gloved hand and trailed her fingers slowly down his cheek.

"If I'm tucked into my own little bed then you better plan on being tucked in with me." She tapped his nose with her index finger, the same impudent smile dancing in her eyes, then presented him with a good-humored frown as both her hand and gaze dropped to the bulge hidden by her coat. "But I don't think this little guy plans on me being asleep any time soon. He's been somersaulting and flipping and tumbling all day." She lifted her eyes demurely. "It would be a shame to waste a nice warm bed on such a cold winter night doing something as boring as sleeping anyway. Maybe over dinner you can try to think of a way for us to occupy our time later."

"That shouldn't be too hard," the detective sighed, placing a quick kiss on her nose then opening the car door to step out into the chilly wind. They'd been to Mother's just a few weeks ago for Christmas Eve and it had almost been this cold but not quite. He stepped around the hood of the car as quickly as he could without slipping on the packed ice and snow, extricated his wife from the passenger side and then gingerly steered both of them along the sidewalk and up the steps into the lobby of the apartment building.

The door of No. 3 at the top of the second-floor landing opened to Pete's knock and they were greeted by Mother's gently stern grin. She ushered them into the little foyer, closed the door behind them, and made small talk about everything and nothing as she watched Edie remove her gloves and white cashmere scarf and the matching cap that was pulled down to cover her ears. The gloves had been a gift from Pete's dad and the scarf and cap a Christmas present from the the PI's pool-hustler friend Babby. Mother's eyebrows shot up as Pete helped unbutton the blonde's red wool coat and her seemingly ever-expanding abdomen came into view. The light gray material of the dress Edie wore hung loosely to below her knees, the bump of the baby she carried very much in evidence. Mother tsked and shook her head dolefully.

"Are you sure there's only one in there?"

Pete paused in the act of grabbing a hanger from the closet and gave Mother a look over Edie's shoulder, an expression of mild panic in his eyes, but the woman herself seemed to take the teasing in stride. He slid the coat onto the hanger and placed it in the closet then reached for the black buttons of his own dark gray herringbone wool overcoat.

"That's not funny," the man protested Mother's words, attempting to shed his coat and finding it being pushed back over his shoulders from behind just as fast as he got it off.

"I thought it was pretty funny!" The sound of his dad's amused voice had the PI turning half around in surprise. "Not something _I'd _be brave enough to say to her, but funny."

Frank Gunn held up a restraining hand to forestall the confused words forming on Pete's lips, instead reaching around him to catch Edie's hand and give it a squeeze as he winked into her equally surprised eyes before catching hold of his son's arm in an attempt to turn him back to the door.

"What say you and me go find something to entertain ourselves with while these women have their little hen party."

Pete frowned. Hen party? His eyes narrowed and he turned a suspicious gaze on Mother and Edie as the older woman ushered the younger into the living room. Curious to know what kind of mischief was being perpetrated, he shook off his dad's hand and followed behind the two women, pausing indecisively as he saw his wife suddenly engulfed by a gaggle of smiling and chattering females. Mother turned and gave a shooing motion with her hand, her lips silently forming a few words that told the two men to be back at seven o'clock.

Pete looked back into the room as he buttoned up his coat, Frank Gunn's hand firmly on his shoulder as the older man opened the door and urged him back out onto the landing. His gaze found a stringed banner, made of what looked like cardboard baby onesies in colors of blue, white, pink and yellow, stretched above the mantle of Mother's fireplace and spelling out 'Baby Shower'. Off to one side was a table with snacks and drinks and another heaped with brightly colored packages and there was a cake prominently placed in the middle of a third square table. The PI wondered at the sudden bereft feeling that washed over him but managed to summon a smile as Edie turned her head to meet his eyes over newly-married Lauren Martin's shoulder. Then Pop had him out the door and down the stairs, claiming the keys to the Plymouth and saying not to worry where they were going, they were full grown men and as such would manage to keep themselves busy for a few hours.

* * *

_(Various references are made to events in "Christmas Surprises", a story co-written by Melchy and myself as Precinct 13.)_


	2. Friends and Family

**I don't own any of the original characters created by Blake Edwards and make no monetary profit from this story. When Pete and Edie decide to come out and play I pick up my tablet and wait for inspiration.**

**Edie's Baby Shower**

**• Friends and Family**

Edie couldn't stop smiling as she found herself engulfed in hugs from the small group of women who had become her best friends over the years, from dark-haired bespectacled June Holton who she had known since childhood, to Lauren Martin who she'd met back in June 1959 when she'd ended up in City Hospital after being shot by a thug who'd had a vendetta against Pete. She and the pretty auburn-haired RN, who had less than a week ago married Pete's best friend from college days, had become fast friends.

Becoming aware of the gentle touch of a hand on her shoulder, Edie turned from Sheila Bell's typically unreserved greeting and found herself looking suddenly and directly into a pair of smiling blue eyes almost identical to her own.

"Mama?"

Edie laughed through sudden tears as her mother enveloped her in a big hug. Although they lived just over three hundred miles apart as the crow flew it had been a little over a year since they'd last seen each other. Edie and Pete had driven out for what had turned into a somewhat crazy three-day visit two Labor Days ago. Otherwise daughter and mother kept in contact with frequent letters and telephone calls, Edie having received a long four-page missive tucked into Mama and Papa's Christmas card, the Harts getting a phone call from their daughter on Christmas morning.

"It's so good to see you, Goose." Mary Grace Hart's voice sounded suspiciously damp as she released her daughter and took half a step back. "Just look at you, almost a mama yourself." She touched her palm to Edie's ever-expanding abdomen. "My little girl," she murmured in a soft voice almost to herself, then pulled Edie close in another compulsive embrace before pushing her toward the younger women milling or standing with big smiles on their faces. "I need to go join the other ladies to see what needs to be done to make sure the meal is ready when the time comes. We'll talk later."

Edie's bemused gaze followed her mother as the older woman hurried to the kitchen, the door swinging shut behind her. She gave Lauren Martin a big smile as the auburn-haired girl reappeared, simultaneously putting a cup of fruit punch in her hand and urging her toward Mother's comfortable floral-patterned sofa. Seating herself between June Holton and Lynn Martel, the blonde's eyes drank in the sight of the large two-layer sheet cake centered prominently on her former employer's antique rosewood game table. The cake was smothered in thick white cream cheese frosting and was edged in yellow. A pair of blue baby shoes adorned one corner and a pair of pink the other, both life-size and made of some sort of edible, sugary, marshmallowy concoction. Confectioner's icing formed delicate pink roses in the bottom left corner and the words 'Welcome Baby' were spelled out in yellow across the center.

"We'll save it until the men get back and serve it for dessert," June grinned.

"Leslie had Jean Paul make a couple extra pans of lasagna last night so we could feed everyone supper," Betty Kendrick added. "They personally delivered the food about an hour ago." The dark-haired woman, just a couple years older than Edie, had been head waitress at Mother's and now held the same position at Edie's. Wendy Iverson and Marge Meadows, the other of Mother's former waitresses who'd moved on to Edie's when the supper club eventually opened after Mother's was sadly destroyed by arson, were also in attendance, filling out a trio of women with whom Edie had become fast friends at the old jazz club.

"We invited them to stay but Leslie said just the mere thought of being among a horde of women at a baby shower was enough to give him nightmares!" Wendy's catching laugh and perfect imitation of the maitre d' had the rest of them giggling.

"I don't know what to say," Edie murmured, looking around the room at the platters of food and drinks, the yellow paper storks hanging from the ceiling and the colorful bags and boxes almost overflowing the square coffee table. Wide crepe paper ribbons of blue and pink adorned the fireplace beneath a baby shower banner and same-colored balloons bounced against the ceiling at the opposite side of the room. She had seen Mother's apartment decorated for Christmas just two weeks ago and while she knew the tree and lights would be gone she certainly hadn't dreamed of seeing the cozy living room decked out like it was this early evening in January.

"Well I certainly do!"

Sheila Bell appeared from the direction of the kitchen along with Mother, Mother's old friend Gussie Warnecke, Mary Ann McAllister – hadn't she and Frank Gunn returned home to Iowa only five days ago? – and Mary Grace Hart. Edie couldn't get over her mother being there and wondered whether Papa had come along with her. Surely he had.

"I say it's time for you to start opening the cards and gifts. But before you do that –" Sheila's eyes skipped from one to the other of the group of women, most of whom had found seats though a few stood sipping punch and nibbling cookies, " – we want you to know that they're not individual gifts. All of them came from all of us."

"When Eric told me about Pete's dad surprising you by showing up on Christmas Eve we decided to put him to work for us," Lauren cheekily chimed in. "He told us what you already had and what Santa brought and we went from there." What Lauren didn't say was that all the women had combined their funds, then the younger women had divided themselves into several small groups and armed with various lists stormed Chadwick's and other stores during the post-New Year's Day sales, ending up with more than what their lists called for. The older ladies had taken care of ordering the cake, preparing the snacks and hanging the decorations.

Sheila grabbed a bundle of cards from among the presents and thrust them at Edie.

"You can start with these! And read them out loud because we want to hear every word!" She gave her friend a cheeky grin. "It was decided the cards all had to be funny – "

" – so be prepared to throw all the dignity you might have left straight out the window," Mother concluded, her eyebrows leaping up her forehead the way they had in times past whenever she'd caught Edie and Pete out on the dock smooching.

* * *

Frank Gunn sat down beside his son on a turquoise-colored hard plastic chair, wiping his hands on a small towel before taking a sip from a bottle of Budweiser. Though the elder Gunn wasn't much of a drinker he did enjoy a beer on the rare occasion. His gaze found the stylized black letters, each set in a turquoise-colored boomerang-shaped background, of the sign high on the wall above the pinsetters – Star-Light Bowling Center. Beneath that in smaller letters patrons were informed that the lanes were_ Open 24-Hours for All Your SPARE Time_. Additional signage across the far right wall advertised the availability of further amenities – _Snack Bar • Cocktail Lounge •_ _Billiards_. Frank watched Emmett Ward grab a shiny black ball from the automatic return, step to the line and pick up an easy spare. This was quite the place, he decided, fancier than anything back home. He turned to say just that to Pete but had to chuckle instead.

"Are you sulking?"

The younger man was sitting forward with his elbows on his knees, rolling a bottle of Canada Dry between his palms as his eyes absently followed the motions of the pins falling for Danny Bell's third consecutive strike. The men had split into two teams and due to the odd number Danny was bowling for both teams. Someone had to do it and he belonged to a league so it gave him a chance to get in a little extra practice. Or at least that was his excuse for volunteering his arm.

"What? Of course not."

Pete sat up straighter, loosened his tie and rolled up both sleeves another inch. Of course he wasn't sulking. Was he? To this point he and Edie had gone through most of the baby stuff together. Doctor appointments, save one or two. Shopping, especially for big items for the baby's room – the baby's room in that nice house on Maple Street that they'd be closing on at two o'clock Wednesday afternoon. So why did he feel left out because her girlfriends were giving her a baby shower? They were her good friends who'd wanted to surprise her and they'd done a good job of it. And here he was at the bowling center with Pop, Joe Hart (who to this point he'd barely had a chance to talk to) and the guys – Eric, Emmett, Barney, Danny Bell, Danny's brother Harold and Lester Kendrick. And he still hadn't figured out how Pop and Mary Ann figured into things considering he and Edie had put them on a plane home just a few days ago.

"You are." Frank held up a hand as Pete made to deny it. "You want to keep her all to yourself and that's understandable. A couple more months and there'll be a baby taking up most of her time and you'll be lucky to have five waking minutes together."

"Hey, Pete! You're up!" Emmett beckoned briskly with his hand.

The PI got to his feet and took his turn on the lane, sliding a crisp curve along the shiny pine boards. What looked like a sure strike became a seven-ten split. He gave a mental groan, or maybe he uttered it out loud considering the cheeky grin Eric Martin turned in his direction. Pete stared down the pins and wiped his hands on a towel as he waited on the ball return. He heaved a sigh that had nothing to do with the placement of the pins and decided he was an idiot, something that Edie would undoubtedly agree with in her own teasing way. He smiled to himself. He'd been her idiot for quite some time now and while he'd often teased her about her unwarranted jealous streak he had to admit he was on the precipice of acting just as badly. All because of a gaggle of females who had the temerity to steal some of her time from him.

Pete picked up the ball that had finally found its way down the chute and made quick work of the difficult spare, somehow managing to keep his smile in control at the round of applause the fellows extended.

"It's a nice thing the women are doing," Frank Gunn grinned, picking right back up with their conversation as Pete reclaimed his chair. "You have no idea the amount of fun I had snooping around to find out what you already have for the kid so they wouldn't end up getting duplicates." His smile broadened at Pete's quizzical look. "Mother put the bug in my ear after Christmas Eve dinner."

"Which begs the question..." Pete took a swallow of ginger ale, "...didn't we put you and Mary Ann on a plane to Iowa Tuesday afternoon?"

* * *

_(Referenced Episode: Edie is shot by Max Grayco's thug in "Vendetta" S1 EP36; __various references are made to events in "Christmas Surprises", a story co-written by Melchy and myself as Precinct 13.)_


	3. Love and Laughter

**I don't own any of the original characters created by Blake Edwards and make no monetary profit from this story. When Pete and Edie decide to come out and play I pick up my tablet and wait for inspiration.**

**Edie's Baby Shower**

**• Love and Laughter**

Edie slid a fingernail beneath a strip of cellophane tape, bottom lip caught between her teeth in concentration as she tried not to tear the wrapping paper of the somewhat bulky odd-shaped package Gussie Warnecke handed to her. She directed a glance at the older woman, whose graying sandy-red hair and deliberate smile gave her face a perpetually somber expression. She and Pete had come to know her well over the several years since the PI had solved the mystery of her husband's death. Gussie was a very good friend of Mother's and it was nice that the women had thought to invite her.

"Hurry up, Edie," June groaned, absently pushing at her black-framed cat-eye glasses to settle them more firmly on her nose. "If you can't go any faster than that we'll all still be sitting here at this time tomorrow!" The pretty brunette model tugged the fingers of one hand impatiently through her short cap of hair.

The woman in question laughed and gave in, tearing the paper away with eager hands to unveil a rectangular box advertising itself as a do-it-yourself shelf kit made of child-safe plastic materials. A short stack of children's books, bound together with wide red ribbon, was tucked into the same wrapping. Inside the front cover of each book was a personal message from one of the women. Marge Meadows explained that they'd each chosen a book they remembered fondly from their own childhood – or in her, Betty and Sheila's cases, favorite books they had gotten for their own children. Edie smiled as she shuffled through the books, finding some she recognized and a few she didn't – _The Wind in the Willows_, _Make Way for Ducklings_, _Angus and the Ducks, Just So Stories_, _Five Children and It_, _Millions of Cats_, _Harry the Dirty Dog_, _Prayer for a Child_,_ The Wonderful Wizard of Oz_, _The Family Under the Bridge_ and_ Madeline._

"They'll come in handy in the middle of the night when the baby won't go to sleep even after he's been fed and changed and you've told him every little thing that happened that day..." Betty Kendrick offered wryly. She and her husband Lester, a trumpet player who taught music on the side, were parents of a girl and boy aged five and three respectively.

"...and sung every lullaby you know. He – or she – won't be able to read but you can and you'll be doing a lot of it," Marge added. Her three kids with husband Mack, who played the vibraphone with various bands around town, ranged in age from seven to ten. "And they're not all baby books so you won't be reduced to babbling three word sentences and making animal sounds. They'll keep your own mind occupied while you're rocking."

Edie smiled somewhat sheepishly and admitted she'd forgotten all about books, drawing laughter because they all knew her as an avid reader.

"Thank you so much, all of you," Edie murmured, reading for a third time the message written in her mother's beautiful cursive inside the cover of _Millions of Cats_. Closing the slim book, which had been one of her favorites as a very small girl, she ran her fingers gently along the cover and directed a soft smile at her parent. "Thank you, Mama."

"You're welcome, honey." Mary Grace Hart reciprocated her daughter's smile. "The first thing I did after we checked into the hotel Friday afternoon was search the yellow pages for bookstores. I think I made five calls before I finally found it in stock at a place called River Road Books and reserved a copy. We managed to find the store yesterday morning despite a few wrong turns." She gave a perplexed frown. "You would think a man who's driven a city bus for thirty-nine years could find his way around anywhere, but not your father."

Edie laughed, knowing the wrong turns were due more to her mother being a back seat driver than Papa not knowing his way around streets and highways. Then she was struck by her mother's other words.

"You've been here since Friday?"

"We have!" Mary Grace exclaimed. "And you don't know the extremes we've gone to to keep you from finding out. Everywhere we've gone I just knew you'd somehow be there and see us. Your Papa had his old wool face mask in the trunk and wore it so he could pull it down if you suddenly appeared and I brought along that old gray winter coat with the huge fur-edged hood that's two times too big and covers my head like a potato sack."

With a chuckle Edie set the book atop the stack.

"Pete worked all day Friday and most of Friday night so yesterday all either one of us wanted to do was stay home and sleep. The only time we left the apartment was to walk up the street to the diner for a late lunch, right before all the snow and sleet started to come down. You and Papa were perfectly safe," she said with a grin.

"Here, Edie – " Wendy handed her the remaining cards.

The women had decided it would be fun to alternate reading cards and opening gifts. It warmed Edie's heart to discover the cards were all home-made instead of the standard drugstore variety. The front of most featured a montage of baby-related images cut and pasted from magazines and old books, several featured storks dangling newborn babies in blankets from their long beaks, others teddy bears in blue and pink, one was cut into the form of a baby bottle and decorated as such, another was shaped like a folded diaper and sported real diaper pins with yellow duck-head closures. It was the messages inside that had the group laughing hilariously as Edie obeyed Mother's instructions to read them out loud.

"_Have you ever seen a watermelon fit through a doughnut hole?"_ she read for everyone to hear. On the inside of her card Lauren Martin had pasted magazine cutouts of a huge green watermelon and a small chocolate doughnut, an arrow in red crayon pointing from the watermelon to the doughnut hole. She had given the watermelon the head, arms and legs of a baby. Edie scrunched up her face and gave her auburn-haired friend a dark look and continued reading. _"No? You will!" _

Edie turned the card for the others to see and then handed it off to be passed around, the women all getting a kick out of it, Sheila Bell and Pop's Mary Ann laughing so hard the tears were threatening. She gave her protruding belly a fond rub as the baby gave a soft kick of it's own – apparently the kid, as Pete referred to their impending offspring, was enjoying the surprise festivities as much as she was – and flipped open the next card and stared at the message inside with a bemused expression.

"_Now that you're pregnant can I borrow all of your nice dresses? You can't fit into any of them anyway!" _Paper doll cutouts of a very shapely woman and her extraordinarily fashionable wardrobe covered the entire inside of the card. "_Love you lots. June."_

"Well?" June took a sip of punch, trying to hide a smile behind the little glass mug and failing miserably. "I know Emmett would absolutely love to see me in that dark green cocktail dress with the skinny spaghetti straps. And of course the black silk tea dress with those pretty white flowers. I promise to give them back in six months when you're able to squeeze into them again," she teased.

"If you're lucky," Sheila smirked. She winked at June and handed the card around.

"Very funny." Edie stuck her tongue out, the gesture encompassing everyone present.

All the cards finally disposed of, she was given another package by Mother. Brightly wrapped in yellow paper featuring lambs and ducklings and folded diapers proclaiming 'For Baby', it was too large for her lap and a bit heavy so she scootched forward to rest it on the edge on the coffee table. Smiling and wondering out loud at its shape and what on earth it could possibly be, she made quick work of the paper, letting it drop to the floor at her feet. Beneath the wrapping she found a round metal diaper pail, perhaps 15 inches tall and twelve inches wide, light yellow in color with a large decal of a cute baby deer on the front.

"Look inside," Lynn prompted, rescuing the wrapping paper from the floor.

Edie opened the lid and found the inner pail stuffed with small-item necessities which she took out and admired one by one – assorted bath toys, a set of unbreakable spoons and bowls, a nail grooming kit, a package of burping cloths, baby soap, a rattle with a clown head, diaper rash cream, extra diaper pins with white duck closures, petroleum jelly, several bibs, baby aspirin, baby powder, a thermometer, an eyedropper, a medicine spoon, a pink bunny night light, a package of white nightshirts featuring blue and yellow kittens, little white socks with green polka dots and the tiniest pair of blue mittens she'd ever laid eyes on. Her grin radiated delight as she thanked her friends.

Another package landed in her lap, passed to her by her mother, which she unwrapped to find a soft white baby blanket with satiny trim, adorned with blue elephants, pink teddy bears and yellow kittens, along with several onesies of different colors and a white sleep suit with red trim that snapped down the front. There were also two rompers with footies to fit a several months old baby.

"I don't know what to say." Edie didn't know how many times she'd said those words.

"You've said that half a dozen times already," Lynn cheerfully retorted almost on cue.

"You know this is just as much fun for us as it is for you." Lauren nibbled a chocolate chip cookie and mentioned how good it tasted and how scrumptious the cake looked. "I just might have a double portion of that for supper and forget about everything else."

There were a few minutes of comfortable silence as the women all seemed to catch their breath then everyone began to talk at once, several different conversations mingled with laughter running over and through each other. Betty and Wendy began gathering the rest of the torn wrapping paper and discarded ribbons from where they'd landed and Lynn rounded up the small items that came in the diaper pail so they wouldn't get lost in the shuffle.

"Have you decided on any names yet, Edie?" Gussie Warnecke wondered and jumped as Mother poked her in the ribs and gave a ferocious frown.

"That's a sore subject around here! You don't know how many times I've asked that same question and I haven't gotten a straight answer yet." Mother raised her eyebrows at Edie, who merely gave her an innocent smile in return.

"Speaking of the cake – " Mary Ann grabbed the camera she'd set to one side – the nice Nikon F Frank Gunn had purchased several years ago, Edie noticed, "...maybe someone should get a few pictures before it disappears."

The old Waterbury clock on the fireplace mantel chimed the half-hour, pulling Mother reluctantly from her comfortable position in her favorite chair with the other three older ladies following suit. Almost time to get the lasagna out of the oven and the garlic bread in if supper was to be ready by the time the men were due to be back, her scratchy voice announced grudgingly into another sudden lull in the conversation. She patted Edie's cheek as she passed the sofa and leaned in to say she couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun.

When they were safely out of sight Sheila quickly retrieved a large bag from the other side of the upright piano, which took up a large part of one side of the room, and placed it on the coffee table beside the opened gifts. The bag was two shades of brown and large stylized letters advertised Chadwick's Department Store on both sides.

"Here's the last one. We picked up one or two nice things just for you." Her words were accompanied by a sly wink. "They'll be occupied in the kitchen long enough for you to see what we got..."

"...and to appreciate our thoughtfulness," Lynn finished with a straight face.

"For me? I'm almost afraid to look." Edie rolled her eyes and everyone laughed.

"You have to promise you'll wait to use the first two until _after_ the baby's born," warned Lauren, staying her friend's hand until until Edie solemnly agreed.

She dipped into the bag and brought out a thin white box, a little taller than it was wide, circled by fancy red ribbon. Inside the box, wrapped with plain pink tissue paper, was a barely-there nightgown and pantie set in sheer white nylon, with spaghetti shoulder ties and lace in all the right places. Edie lifted it from the box and held it up. It would come to about mid-thigh and left nothing to the imagination. Absolutely nothing.

"It's– … it's almost _obscene_." Her eyes widened the littlest bit.

"It's really more for Pete than for you but is something you can both get some enjoyment out of." The impudent grin that accompanied Sheila's comment implied much more than her words said, bringing a hint of pink to Edie's cheeks and producing knowing laughter from the others.

"You know how visual men are." Betty pretended to fan herself. "They like the thought of the gift but they also want that little sneak peek before they unwrap it."

"Why even bother?" Edie smirked. "For the little it will hide when I wear it I might as well be naked." Her words conjured even more laughter. "I love it!" She beamed with delight, her eyes crinkling at the corners.

"It'll probably end up in a wad under the bed within five seconds after he sees you in it but the look on his face will be worth it," Lauren added her two cents worth.

"Not to mention the look on his face if he could hear this conversation," Edie decided.

"He's heard worse..." Sheila tsked. "Remember the time he walked in when I was telling you about breastfeeding Adam and how weird my periods were? I thought he was going to turn right back around and leave again and it was his own apartment!"

"Edie..." June wagged a finger at the gift bag.

A powder gray envelope with Roxy's Salon imprinted in flowing black letters yielded a gift certificate that entitled her to a half day of pampering from Angelo and Julie at the salon she'd frequented since her days at the Salem prior to working at Mother's. In those days she'd had to scrimp and save extra money if she wanted more than a shampoo and haircut. After starting at the jazz club she was able to take better advantage of the other services Roxy's offered.

"It's not just for your hair and nails," Lynn promised. "Maddy said you'll be getting the star treatment beginning the minute you walk through the door."

"It'll be a nice way to get a few hours for yourself," Marge smiled, "and will give Pete a chance for some Daddy time. Men kind of need to be weaned into being alone with that first baby over longer periods of time. For some reason it seems to scare them. I finally came to the conclusion that Mack was nervous about being alone with Corey because he was afraid he might have to change a diaper by himself." She joined in the laughter that followed and shook her head sadly. "Men! It defies logic sometimes."

"You don't know the half of it," Edie chuckled, remembering back to a year and a half ago when a wartime friend of Pete's had left his infant daughter in a basket on the PI's doorstep. She gave a watered down summary beginning with Pete's panicked telephone call begging for her help and ending with a description of the clothesline of diapers he'd strung from one end of the living room to the other, the women laughing hysterically at her account of his antics with the baby.

"Just think, Edie–" after the hilarity subsided, "–you can have one of those luscious scalp massages from Angelo and then a shampoo and set, get your hair styled nice and pretty..." June sighed just thinking about it.

"...and have a manicure and a pedicure and one of those heavenly facials Julie gives..." Lynn added dreamily.

"...you can make it a late afternoon appointment... pick up dinner and a nice bottle of red wine from the club afterwards..." Sheila smiled craftily and gave her friend a suggestive nudge with her elbow. "Go home and slip into this nightie..." She lifted it gently and slid it back into the box it came in.

"...and the dinner will get cold, the wine will go to waste and nine months later you'll be welcoming baby number two and wondering how on _earth_ it all could have happened," Lauren drawled in a tone of amused warning.

"Remember, Edie, you have to save those two for after the baby comes," June reminded her friend between fits of laughter. "But there are a couple more and you need to hurry," she glanced at the clock on the mantle. "The men will be here any minute."

Edie emptied the bag of its remaining contents, looking mystified at a large package of Ray-O-Vac batteries and having the grace to blush when told they were for the... _ahem_... vibrator she'd won as a door prize several years earlier at a bridal shower for one of Sheila's co-workers at Francine's Boutique.

"Batteries always seem to wear out at the most inappropriate moments." Sheila grinned at the sight of her friend's flushed face. "You do still have it don't you, Edie? You didn't break it did you? I still have the address for–"

"Oh, shut up!" the blonde laughed, her cheeks a rosy pink, then smiled with delight at the two books she'd been given – _Childbirth Without Fear: The Principles and Practice of Natural Childbirth _by Grantly Dick-Read and _The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding_ by La Leche League International – Lauren saying she'd ordered them through the hospital bookstore after Edie had made an offhand remark that she was looking for both but none of the stores in town ever seemed to have them in stock.

"Are you really thinking about natural childbirth, Edie?" Betty shuddered but chuckled at the same time. "You're a braver woman than I am."

"St. Francis has just begun a natural childbirth pilot program, it's the first of its kind in the state." While working at City Hospital as a surgical nurse, Lauren Martin had filled in at St. Francis Hospital whenever the need arose. She had moved there permanently the previous January as head surgical nurse in the pediatric ward. "It's an unbelievably progressive program. They allow the father in the labor room the entire time. Honestly, the staff that oversees the program is so, what is the word I'm looking for – enlightened? – that Pete could probably sneak into the delivery room and no one would bat an eye."

"I'm not sure Pete's ready to go quite that far," Edie laughed.

"What did he say when you told him you're thinking of natural childbirth?" Lynn asked.

"I don't know." The blonde wrinkled her nose and offered up a sheepish smile at their questioning looks. "I haven't exactly gotten around to talking to him about it yet. I may just lay this book somewhere conspicuous and let him figure it out for himself."

The rollicking sound of almost continuous merry laughter reached the quartet of ladies in the kitchen, bringing smiles and head shakes.

"I'm not sure I want to know what's going on out there," Mary Ann McAllister mused as she wrapped foil around he last garlic bread, stuck it in the oven and set the timer for ten minutes. "But do you get the feeling we were cramping their style a little bit there at the end? It's like they couldn't wait for us to leave the room."

"Most likely it has something to do with that big bag June Holton hid behind the piano," Gussie Warnecke speculated, counting plates and forks and smiling as three heads turned as one to look at her. "I may be half deaf but I'm not blind. She snuck it in when the nice fellows brought the food and we were all occupied here in the kitchen."

* * *

_(Episodes referenced: Gussie Warnecke's husband is murdered in "The Leaper" S1 EP15; Ernie Graves leaves his baby on Pete's doorstep in "Baby Shoes" S2 EP38. Stories referenced: Frank Gunn purchases the Nikon F camera in "A Lifetime in Eight Days".)_


	4. Predictions and Predilections

**I don't own any of the original characters created by Blake Edwards and make no monetary profit from this story. When Pete and Edie decide to come out and play I pick up my tablet and wait for inspiration.**

**Edie's Baby Shower**

• **Predictions and Predilections **

Peter Gunn trailed into Mother's apartment behind his dad, the two of them straggling in behind the others who had been so unkind as to take up every empty parking spot at the front of the building, forcing Pete to park on the side street. He opened the closet to hang his overcoat but couldn't find a hanger among all the coats already crammed in there so ended up tossing it over the piano bench as he homed in on his wife. She was seated on Mother's overstuffed sofa beside dark-haired June Holton, a tiny scrap of some sort of baby outfit on her lap, laughing lightheartedly, blue eyes dancing at something June was saying. He walked over to stand looking down at them, hands deep in his pants pockets as his fingers played with the cigarette lighter and coins they found in the left one and the car keys in the other. He might have quit smoking, but the gold lighter that had been a part of him for so long was something he couldn't give up. Edie called it his security blanket. He had to admit she had a point. Besides, you never knew when a lighter might come in handy. Both women smiled to acknowledge his presence as he unashamedly listened to them continue their conversation.

"...and remember in second grade when we decided all boys were the grossest things?" June's dark brown eyes twinkled behind the thick lenses of her glasses as she sat turned toward Edie. "And in seventh grade when Tommy Milisci followed us everywhere we went? Even into the girls restroom that one time because he was too busy listening to what we were talking about than watching where he was going? All the girls laughed at him and his face turned the color of a tomato!"

"Should I be jealous?" The PI's lips tilted in an affectionate half smile, his gaze lingering on his wife before shifting to the other girl. "Hi, June."

Pete thought the dark-haired woman looked very nice in her cherry-red skirt and white long-sleeved button-down blouse. He wondered idly if Emmett would ever get up the nerve to pop the question and then gave a mental roll of his eyes, deciding he should be the very last person to judge his friend's lassitude in that department. Peter Gunn was the poster boy for dragging one's feet when it came to proposing. And every time he looked at his wife he wished he'd done it much sooner than he had.

"Of course," Edie teased with a straight face. "After all, he was in both choir _and_ band in high school. As I recall he played a crazy bass clarinet." She continued dreamily, "He had the curliest blond hair and the deepest brown eyes..."

June hid a smile and excused herself to help the other women with the finishing touches for supper. Everyone else seemed to have migrated to the small dining room and kitchen where food and drink had been set up in a serve-yourself manner, either accidentally or intentionally giving their friends a few minutes of privacy.

"What do you have there?"

Edie held up a onesie that was light yellow with a pattern of little blue teddy bears. The PI reached for it and looked down at it as he held it against his chest. It seemed awfully small and he told his wife so. She nodded, admiring his forearms beneath the rolled-up sleeves of his shirt and the manner in which his necktie was pulled loose with the top shirt button undone, and gave him one of those smiles that made his breath catch. Then her forehead crinkled in a little frown and her eyes narrowed.

"And just where have you been and what have you been doing, Mr. Gunn?" He handed her back the onesie and sank down beside her, his arm reaching casually across the back of the sofa to settle along her shoulders as he leaned in to steal a kiss. "You smell like beer and cigarettes," she prodded curiously.

"Other people's beer and cigarettes," the man assured her, his mouth twitching. "Believe it or not I was kidnapped and held against my will at Star-Lite Bowl. Some over-zealous league bowler on the next lane tripped over his own feet on his way back from the snack bar and spilled his drink all over my suit jacket. I wasn't wearing it at the time but I still got sprayed." He peered over his shoulder to where the other men had all congregated near the kitchen doorway. "I'm seriously considering pressing charges against every last one of them."

"For the jacket or the kidnapping?"

"Both."

Edie laughed and followed his gaze and exchanged a smile with her father who seemed to be having quite an animated discussion with Frank Gunn.

"Looks like our papas picked up right where they left off last time they saw each other."

"That they did." It had been well over a year and a half, almost two years, since the men had met, but from the way they'd acted at the bowling center it was like they had known each other their entire lives. "I barely had a chance to say hi to Joe before they started in on what fish were biting better this year and how that old Buick your dad is working on in his garage is coming along." It was Pete's private opinion that if Frank Gunn did what he'd been hinting at – pulling up roots and moving to this part of the country so he could watch his grandchildren grow up – he and Joe Hart would manage to spend a good bit of time together.

Pete's eyes wandered the decorations, his fingers playing absently in the softness of the woman's hair, and he reached to grab the last cookie from a nearby plate. He could smell wonderful aromas drifting in from the kitchen but surely one small cookie wouldn't spoil his appetite.

"I should go say hello to Mama," he said, slanting a smile at his wife as he took a bite of oatmeal chocolate chip.

The arm over Edie's shoulders pulled her closer for a brief moment and then was gone as the PI made to get up. She grabbed his arm and stilled him, pointing out that her mother seemed to be enjoying herself at the moment with the other ladies and it would be a real shame to interrupt them.

"And what on earth would she think if she heard you calling her Mama?" Edie offered up with an impish smile. She brushed cookie crumbs from his mouth and offered her lips for another kiss. "

Mary Grace Hart wasn't any less ambivalent toward Peter Gunn than she'd been before he married her daughter, even with the impending birth of a grandchild. Pete had hopes that his mother-in-law's feelings would mellow some day, banking on the occasional cracks in her demeanor that she attempted to quickly cover whenever they occurred. He uttered a wordless comment and reached over to pick up the Chadwick's bag that Edie had carefully repacked. She neatly removed it from his grasp and set it aside and told him he didn't need to be looking there.

"Something you don't want me to see?" He winked. "Did you have a good time?"

"Mmhm." She gave him a big smile. "It was very nice of everyone."

She showed him the children's books the women had provided and he smiled as he read the comments on the inside covers. He seemed duly impressed with the diaper pail and its contents and consented to inspect the little socks and mittens and was horrified when Lauren Martin's card was the one which out of curiosity he flipped open.

"Pete – " The blonde gave a throaty laugh. "Are you squirming?"

He hurriedly returned the card to the pile and was thankfully saved from answering by Mother's gravelly voice cutting through the chatter.

"Get over here, you two! It's time to eat and the guest of honor goes first – " her brow furrowed with a cantankerous frown, " – so stop your canoodling and make your way to the front of the line!"

Pete gave his mother-in-law a warm hello, a one-armed hug and a kiss on the cheek as he weaved his way a step or two behind Edie through the cluster of people. He received a big hug from Gussie Warnecke, got an affectionate pat on the cheek and a kind word from Mother, then leaned in to give Mary Ann McAllister a hug and a kiss on the cheek and said something to her in a low voice which caused them both to laugh.

The PI stood with seeming uncertainty near Edie as she grabbed a plate and used a metal spatula to scoop up a mouth-watering portion of lasagna. As he hesitated Mother pushed him forward and urged him to hurry and fill up with what he wanted because the natives were getting restless.

"We're all starving!" She shoved one of her best china plates into his hands.

He finally acquiesced only after the older woman overruled his good-natured argument that the women who did all the work should go first. He selected a bottle of White Rock ginger ale for himself and a Coke for Edie and accompanied her back to the comfort of the living room couch. The two sat comfortably close together, heads tilting toward each other as they talked, the woman's soft laughter ringing out at some comment from the man. A few moments later Eric and Lauren Martin joined them, Lauren perching on the edge of the couch beside Edie while the redheaded physician settled nearby on the floor, giving a melodramatic groan as he folded his legs in an exaggerated pretzel position and rested his plate on one knee. The rest of the younger group followed gradually, save for Emmett and Barney, who joined the older generation at Mother's big dining room table that took up almost the entirety of that small room.

"Give me your wedding ring."

Edie licked cream cheese frosting from her lips and glanced at Sheila Bell, wondering briefly at the thread dangling from the brunette's fingers but more concerned with her words. She could count on half the fingers of one hand the number of times she'd taken off her wedding ring since Pete had slipped it onto her finger almost seven months ago.

"How'd you like a knuckle sandwich?" she retorted sweetly.

"Come on, Edie," her best friend wheedled, holding out her hand expectantly. Sheila was a very attractive dark-haired girl with a well-built slightly plump figure, a gregarious personality and a take-charge attitude. She'd been employed full-time as a seamstress at Francine's Boutique and Edie had been working in the chorus line at The Salem when the women had met and become fast friends. These days Sheila was working part-time at the dress shop after giving birth to son Adam just over a year ago.

"Why?" Edie set her empty dessert plate atop the growing pile on the very corner of the coffee table, Pete's arm snaking warmly around her shoulders to gather her close as she settled back against the couch cushion.

"For the sex test."

"I think they've passed that test already," Eric snickered, then expelled a pained gasp as the toe of Lauren's shoe dug into his ribs. She gave him a reproving smirk from her seat next to Edie.

"It's to predict the sex of the baby!" Her tone called him an idiot but her tongue held the actual words back, for which he was thankful. The resulting laughter, though, indicated everyone else caught the insinuation.

"That's an old wives tale," the handsome pediatrician scoffed, rubbing his side.

"Well, until some smart doctor comes up with a way to look inside a woman's uterus to actually see the baby before it's born we'll just have to put up with archaic superstitions, won't we Dr. Martin?" She nudged him again with her shoe for good measure, though more gently this time, and grabbed a sheet of paper from the end table. "We have a list of tests from a book Lynn found at the library," she added, waving a page torn from a yellow legal pad in his face.

"Now just sit still and show some patience." Sheila, finally in possession of her friend's wedding band, held it suspended from a thread above Edie's ever-burgeoning abdomen. "According to _old_ _wives_ – " She gave Eric a severe frown and moved it to cover Pete as the PI cleared his throat to cover a chuckle. " – if it moves in circles it's a girl and if it moves back and forth it's a boy."

"Well?" After about fifteen seconds with no discernible movement Harold Bell couldn't help but tease his sister-on-law. "I've seen knuckleballs move faster than this." Harold was a baseball scout for the Cleveland Indians and knew how slowly such a pitch could travel.

"Shhh! Just wait." June Holton leaned forward and watched expectantly. "There! It's sort of wiggling back and forth!"

"I think Pete was blowing on it," Marge Meadows implied with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, Pete!" Emmett had wandered from the dining room to stand behind his friend. He gave the PI a hard clap on the shoulder. "Congratulations. It's a boy!" The good-looking pianist covered his mouth and tried hard to stop snickering. Women could come up with the craziest notions sometimes.

"Can I ask a question?" Les Kendrick waved his fork in the air. "Why didn't you ladies do this test _before_ you ran all over town looking for baby things? Seems to me it would have made things a lot easier if you'd known you were shopping for a boy."

"I don't think that's right!" Mother's gravelly voice sounded from the little dining room where she was pouring coffee, her triad of dangling necklaces jingling as she went about her business. "I've always heard circles for a boy and back and forth for a girl."

"The book said circles for a girl," Lynn insisted.

"Makes perfect sense to me," Danny Bell offered in a loud aside to his brother. "Females are always running around in circles."

"We'll mark that down in the boy column," Lauren huffed with an exasperated sigh and a roll of her eyes.

The remaining tests were simply questions or observations.

"Which are you craving – sweet foods or salty foods?"

"Sweet," Edie promptly admitted. "About twice a week I nag Pete into running to that all-night sweet shop up the street from our apartment for caramel-covered long johns." She turned an affectionate smile on her husband.

"Make that three times a week. And you ate your cake and half of mine," Pete pointed out mildly, lips tilting in a knowing smile as he tipped his head toward the empty dessert plates. "And I noticed yesterday the leftover chocolate chips Mary Ann put in the freezer after making all those cookies for New Year's Eve have mysteriously disappeared. Then there was the pecan pie and pecan logs Mother sent home with us on Christmas Eve and the doughnuts Christmas morning – "

"Fine! It's not a craving, it's a lust."

"Is your skin clear or do you have blemishes?" Lauren pressed her lips together and tried to contain a smile as she exchanged a glance with Eric.

"Blemishes." Edie touched a pink spot on her chin meditatively and directed a narrow-eyed glance at her husband. "I like that better than the word you used for it."

"What do you expect after eating all those sweets?"

Pete's long fingers lightly squeezed her shoulder at the resulting dark look he received at that comment, his own gaze harboring a spark of amusement. It was so easy to get a rise out of her at times. His girl was quite fetching when her dander was up.

"It's hormones," the blonde asserted, a glint in her blue eyes and a dangerous edge to her voice. "The sweets have nothing to do with it."

"If you say so." His lips tilted in an indulgent smile.

"Which side do you sleep on? Right side or left?" Sheila quizzed, peering over Lauren's head at the list of questions.

"Which side of the bed?" Edie questioned with a perplexed frown. "Aren't you getting a little personal?"

"No," Lauren rolled her eyes. "Do you sleep on your left side or your right side?"

"Left. Usually. Unless I sleep on my right side." She turned thoughtful. "And sometimes on my back, but not often. I normally sleep on my stomach but..." she gave a rueful rub to her abdomen at a soft kick, "...that's out of the question at the moment."

"Just a simple answer, sweetie," Sheila inserted. "You don't have to go into detail."

"Is your hair thick and shiny or dull and stringy?"

"Definitely thick and shiny," Joe Hart observed with a wink, giving her hair a tweak as he wandered by with a cup of coffee. He transferred Pete's overcoat to the top of the spinet piano and settled himself on the bench. His sandy hair, speckled with the smallest bits of gray, had been freshly cut in the short flat-top that was all Edie could ever recall him wearing.

"Why do I feel like an ant under glass?" the blonde grumped good-naturedly.

"Are you gaining baby weight in your belly or all over?"

That one earned an annoyed frown. She gave Pete a preemptive nudge with her elbow, daring him to say anything and missing his small grin when he removed his arm from around her shoulders to accept a mug of coffee from Mary Grace Hart as she slipped by to join her husband.

"Whatever she's gained it's in all the right places," the PI placated.

"Now _that's_ the kind of diplomatic answer a woman likes to hear," Wendy Iverson said with a dimpled grin and a low chuckle.

"Mmhmm." Lauren's pencil moved over the paper. "What about you, Pete?"

"What about me?"

"Have you been gaining any weight or are you still your normal svelte self?"

"I've lost at least five pounds running around taking care of everything on her honey-do list. It gets longer by the day." He leaned in to kiss his wife's nose upon being presented with her patented 'I am not amused' glare.

"Have your feet been colder than normal or are they the same temperature as always?"

"They're always cold!" Edie wrinkled her nose. "I even wear Pete's socks to bed."

"Are you more emotional and moody than normal?"

"I wouldn't say so." She directed a look at her husband. "Would you, Pete?"

"Uh-oh," Frank Gunn's amused voice floated over Pete's head. "Sounds like it's time for another one of those diplomatic answers, son."

"That's one of those where you're in trouble if you answer yes and you're in trouble if you answer no," Joe Hart deadpanned. "Take it from someone who's been there."

"It ranks right up there with 'Honey, do I look fat in this dress?'" Les Kendrick chimed in, his normally bass tone raised to an unnatural girlishly high pitch.

"I guess I'll have to plead the fifth on that one, honey," the PI hedged.

"The last one says if your age and year of conception are both either even or odd then it's a girl," Lauren finished. "But if one is even and one odd it's a boy. Sooo... both odd." She made a mark on the paper and then counted with the tip of her pencil.

"So?" Harold Bell wondered with a somnolent smile, perching on the arm of the solid overstuffed chair Lynn Martel was occupying. He clinked the ice cubes around in his tall glass of iced tea and tossed back a long swallow, his laughing eyes glancing off Pete's amused gaze and landing on Lauren Martin's scowling face. "Five predict it's a boy and five predict it's a girl. I suppose being women you gave no thought at all to coming up with an odd number of questions in case you needed a tie-breaker?"

Lynn's scowl matched Lauren's as she glanced up at the lanky, black-haired, brown-eyed man she'd somehow fallen in love with. "I think I resent that," she retorted, her naturally reserved tone giving an entirely new meaning to the words.

A lively but friendly argument ensued for several minutes before the party slowly began to break up – after all, tomorrow was Monday and a work day for most – and the friends began to say their goodbyes and drift away to their various homes.

Eric Martin still had Sunday night rounds on the pediatrics ward and would drop Lauren at their apartment on the way. Danny Bell needed to stop by the Holly Arms Apartments to check the status of an emergency plumbing job several of his guys were working, but he'd take Sheila home beforehand after rescuing toddler Adam from her parents.

"Believe it or not, Francine actually took my advice about adding a maternity line at the shop," Sheila informed Edie through a big hug and thank-you from the blonde. "Come by either Tuesday or Thursday afternoon and we'll look through the dresses that came in–" She shrugged into her coat as Pete and Danny shook hands. "–there are a couple I know you'll adore." She slipped on her gloves. "June and I told Mother we'd be here in the morning to take down the decorations and clean up but she refused. She said Mrs. Warnecke is staying over tonight and they'll take care of it tomorrow, that it will give them something to do. Do you think that's okay? We don't want to take advantage of her any more than we already have!" Sheila grinned.

"If Mother said it then it's so." Edie followed her friend to the door and received another hug. "The worst thing you can do is argue with her."

"Stop by after your appointment with Dr. Keller." Lauren Martin stuck her arms through the sleeves of the dark green corduroy coat her husband of less than a week held for her. She was aware that Edie was seeing her obstetrician on Friday. "I'll treat you to lunch in the cafeteria. Bye, Pete." She wiggled her fingers at the handsome PI.

The others followed, unhurriedly but recognizing the lateness of the hour. Emmett and June were the last of the younger group to leave, Emmett dragging himself away from a lively conversation with Mother as he finished off a second helping of cake.

Mother shooed the remaining guests away from the kitchen, where Joe Hart and Frank Gunn were trying their best to take over the dish-washing duties that she and Gussie had under control. The men finally gave in and wandered back into the living room, finding Mary Grace and Mary Ann deep in conversation about gardening while Pete and Edie had their heads close together, discussing in subdued voices something that had the PI smiling imperturbably at his wife.

"What's this I hear about you two finding a house?" Joe Hart's kind voice cut through a sudden and rare moment of silence. "Frank mentioned you took him to see it a week or so ago, Pete..." he raised a curious eyebrow at his son-in-law, "... but that you didn't have much hope the owners would accept your offer."

"All true," Pete admitted and related the story of the house at 901 Maple Street for the benefit of the Harts. He described how he and Edie and their realtor had gone back and forth with the property owners for two months but had gotten nowhere with their offers and counter-offers. "Mr. Downey finally convinced the owners to come take a look at the place – they flew in from Wisconsin the week before Christmas. He explained all the particulars and managed to talk them around. We sign the papers Wednesday."

"We'll be able to bring the baby home to a house instead of an apartment." Edie turned a sleepy smile on her husband. "It will be such a nice thing, won't it, Pete?"

The man's lips tipped in agreement and he gave her a shrewd look as she yawned.

"We'll take you over for the grand tour before you leave in the morning," Pete told his in-laws. He removed his arm from around Edie's shoulders and pulled her to her feet as he rose from the couch. "Come on, Silly. Let's get all this stuff gathered together and find our way home before you fall asleep on me. I'd hate to have to spend the night in that lumpy-looking pull-down bed in Mother's guest room."

* * *

_(Certain references are made to the story "Christmas Surprises" which was co-written with Melchy.)_


	5. All the Time in the World

**I don't own any of the original characters created by Blake Edwards and make no monetary profit from this story. When Pete and Edie decide to come out and play I pick up my tablet and wait for inspiration.**

_Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read this story. I appreciate your comments and suggestions and hope you continue to enjoy these "Peter Gunn" fanfics. This story is somewhat of a continuation of "Christmas Surprises", written by myself and Melchy as Precinct 13. Reading that story might help a few things make more sense, but it's not necessary. Hope you've enjoyed the fanfic._

**Edie's Baby Shower**

• **All the Time in the World**

The Harts found their way to the apartment of their daughter and son-in-law, arriving a good twenty minutes prior to the appointed 8:00 AM despite not being overly familiar with the town. Their early appearance was due in large part to Joe Hart's driving skills and sense of direction, but even more so to Mary Grace Hart's eagerness to spend a few more hours with their daughter, which had them checking out of their hotel much earlier than necessary. As it was they would need to leave directly from the planned visit to the couple's new house in order to make the more than three hundred mile trip home in a reasonable time. The roads had been good on the drive east but there was no telling what the winter storm the weather people were now predicting might do to them if it arrived early. If the roads became snowbound or iced over they might end up stopping overnight at the home of Joe's sister Irene and her husband Tom Clark outside of Clearfield. Mary Grace told her husband she hoped it didn't come to that.

"Much as I'd love a long visit with Tom and Irene – " she pulled off the brown capeskin gloves Joe had given her for her birthday two years ago, " – there's no place like home during a blizzard." She watched as he pressed a finger to the doorbell.

The door opened to reveal their daughter, a fluffy blue robe loosely belted over a white nightgown and hair pulled back in an untidy ponytail. A pair of thick white men's socks were pulled up above her ankles and a ginger cat wound itself around her feet, looking curiously up at their visitors.

"You're early!" Edie greeted her parents with a sleepy smile and ushered them through the little foyer, past the round dining table – already set with plates and silverware for six – and down a step into the living room. "Breakfast won't be out of the oven for half an hour yet. Pete put together an egg casserole and there's ham heating up along with it."

"Smells good," Joe attested, removing his brown jacket and laying it over the back of a nearby chair. His stocky frame was clad in warm brown corduroys and a forest-green cable-knit pullover sweater. "Reminds me of the summers your uncles and I spent with Gram and Gramp Spicer when we were kids. Ham and eggs, biscuits and gravy, Gram's fresh bread with homemade jam – that was our breakfast every Sunday morning before they herded us off to church." He rubbed his ear and chuckled. "It was a real treat, let me tell you."

"I know, Papa." Edie smiled fondly. She loved listening to her father's stories of growing up in Uniontown and how the boys in the family were trundled off to their grandparents' farm for a month every summer to learn the manly arts of tilling soil and milking cows.

"We're having homemade biscuits too, but I'm afraid you'll have to put up with orange marmalade from the A&P. And there's bacon already cooked for those who want it." The smile became a grin. "Actually it's mostly for me and Thomas..." she briefly wondered aloud where the cat had suddenly disappeared to, "...we both have an unnatural craving for it."

"You know that's my favorite jam right after strawberry," Joe Hart teased. "And just the thought of the ham has my mouth watering. I'll gladly give up my share of the bacon if it will bring even a speck of happiness to you and the cat."

"One of Pete's former clients sent four hams from some place called the Honey Baked Ham Company. We gave one to Mother and you and Pop are each taking one home. It's more ham than we'd eat in two years, I don't know what Mr. Girard was thinking."

"Maybe he owns stock in the company," Papa winked.

"I wouldn't be surprised. He's one of those eccentric banking tycoons with more money than he'll ever know how to spend and a featherbrained daughter who's into every new cause that comes along." Edie gave an inward smirk as she recalled walking into her dressing room at Mother's and catching shoeless Lois Girard making goo-goo eyes at Pete. That seemed like such a long time ago now but it couldn't be much more than a year and half.

Mary Grace's fingers went to the big buttons of her coat as she studied her surroundings with curious eyes. This was the apartment where Edie had lived before she'd done the absolutely unthinkable and – She quickly caught herself, dragging her thoughts away from the scandalous manner in which her daughter and that man of hers had been living up until seven months ago, not caring that the whole world knew. She couldn't count the times she'd called this very apartment only to have the phone answered by Lynn Martel, who seemed a very nice girl from what she'd seen over this weekend. Her response to those phone calls had always been something like, "No, Edie's not here" or "You might try Pete's number" or "She's most likely at the club right now". As a mother she'd tried her best not to be too suspicious, and certainly neither Edie nor Lynn had ever lied to her about the situation and she herself had never outright asked, but it had still come as a shock when she'd finally had to admit to herself that Edie was no longer living here and had sublet the apartment to her friend. And now Lynn was living elsewhere and Edie and Peter were here. And why hadn't they just stayed in the man's apartment after they got married – which was another story – instead of playing such an odd spin-off of musical chairs? Mary Grace shook her head, flabbergasted at all the apartment-hopping, it was enough to make a person dizzy just thinking about it!

" – Mama?"

Edie pulled the coat from her mother's shoulders and draped it over the chair with Papa's jacket. She looked at her Mama, impertinent laughter coloring her eyes.

"I'm sorry, honey." Mary Grace touched her palm to Edie's cheek and offered a smile. "I guess my mind was wandering. What were you saying?"

"I need to get dressed – " Edie's fingers fiddled with the tie of her robe, eyes searching her Mama's face for a moment and then her own smile returned, if somewhat tremulous. She pulled her mother into a hug, looking at her father over the older woman's shoulder as Mama's arms tightened around her. "If I forgot to say it last night, I'm very glad you're here." She kissed Mary Grace's cheek and made quick steps toward the bedroom. "Pete took the dog for his morning constitutional. If he's not back in five minutes would you please take the casserole and ham out of the oven and put the biscuits in? They need to bake at four hundred degrees for about fourteen minutes." Her voice floated back to her parents as the bedroom door closed behind her. "And would you plug in the percolator? Pop and Mary Ann should be here any minute..."

Forty-five minutes later Frank Gunn leaned back in his straight-back chair, stretched his arms and then patted his stomach, a sigh of total satisfaction escaping his lips. He gladly accepted the fresh black coffee his daughter-in-law poured into his empty mug – the first pot was long gone – and offered the last bite of bacon on his plate to the ginger-haired cat who sat staring at him with round yellow-green eyes.

"This is the best breakfast I've had in I don't know when." The elder Gunn reconsidered his own words and chuckled, reaching for a third biscuit. "Well, at least since the French toast and hash browns we had on Christmas morning. That was some mighty good food, too."

"If my memory serves me right _you_ made breakfast that day, Pop." Pete moved his mug within easy reach of the percolator as it made it around the table.

"Well, since you mention it," Frank grinned, spreading butter and jam, "I guess I did!"

"We had chocolate-covered doughnuts Christmas morning," Edie mused reminiscently as she reclaimed her seat. She narrowed her eyes in her husband's direction. "At least we did until someone insinuated I might be gaining a pound or two and moved them not too discretely out of reach."

The man's fork paused halfway to his mouth after he speared the small bite of casserole Frank Gunn and Joe Hart somehow missed.

"I never said that." A chuckle lay behind his words.

"You didn't have to." She offered up a slow smile. "I'm very good at reading your mind."

"Sounds like your mind-reading wires got crossed." The PI lay down his fork and gave her a wink. "You must be channeling Dr. Keller from your last appointment. I recall he said something about it not being true that you can never get too much of a good thing and suggested you cut back on the coconut fudge ice cream and banana cream eclairs."

"He didn't say anything about chocolate covered doughnuts."

Joe Hart chuckled at his daughter's lament, his attention divided between Edie and Pete's conversation across the table and his own discussion of cars with Frank Gunn. The back and forth banter between the couple was a delight to listen to, if somewhat confusing at times.

"He didn't mention the ice cream or eclairs by name either. He was making a point."

"I suppose I'll just have to give up _all_ my cravings..." A mischievous smile lurked within the limpid blue gaze the blonde turned on her husband.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far," Pete protested, his mind conjuring up certain pleasurable activities that had occurred in their bedroom before Soufflé, the little brown soulful-eyed dachshund, had made known his dire need to take a run outside. He definitely needed to remember to close the bedroom door to deter both animals. There was nothing quite like being pounced on by a cat while in the midst of an amorous moment.

"What else have you been craving, honey?"

Mary Grace Hart's melodious voice interrupted the PI's reverie as she and Mary Ann McAlister began clearing empty dishes from the table. Edie pursed her lips to contain laughter as she lowered her gaze and reached for the last slice of crisp bacon.

"Um, bacon..." she gestured with it before taking a bite. "Peanut butter. Anything spicy, especially enchiladas and tamales. The seven-layer casserole at Miguel's. And anchovy pizza! I've never cared for anchovies on pizza but to tell you the truth I could eat a huge slice right this very minute." She sipped her coffee thoughtfully and wrinkled her nose at her good-looking husband. "Pete's probably tired of pizza. We have it at least once a week."

"He'd probably eat it every night if it's what you wanted," Pop assured her.

"Don't push it," Pete muttered good-naturedly. He made to get up from his chair as Edie stood but her palm against his chest kept him where he was. She gathered the remaining juice glasses and silverware and disappeared into the kitchen behind the older women, muttering dark thoughts about men who would take chocolate-covered doughnuts away from pregnant women.

* * *

Mary Grace Hart sat on a bench seat in the breakfast nook at one end of the kitchen of the house at 901 Maple Street. As they'd driven over in the Ford Fairlane that Joe had insisted they trade for three years ago, she and Edith in the back seat and Peter up front to point Joe around the correct corners and down the right streets, Edith had mentioned the papers would be signed Wednesday afternoon. Already several gallons of paint sat on the counter, shades of light cream and pale yellow to replace whatever those current colors were. They would be quite pretty in their place she supposed, inspecting the room through a critical eye, but she found them difficult to describe, the product of a different time and preference. The new colors would give the kitchen a light and airy look, make it seem even bigger than it was.

Her gaze strayed through the door that opened onto the back porch, landed on Edith and Peter at the far end of the back yard. The girl – more woman than girl, Mary Grace had to admit to herself, because a mother always found it hard to think of her daughter as a full grown woman with all that entailed – motioned at something in the tree branches directly above their heads and laughed as the man followed her pointing finger. He said something and looked back down at her and she grabbed his shirt collar with both hands, bringing his face to hers for a kiss that had him wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.

The kiss became much more involved than Mary Grace deemed appropriate. What if a neighbor-to-be was watching from a window!? What kind of people would they think were moving in? With a sigh she removed her gaze from the couple and allowed it to absently wander the pretty but somewhat overgrown yard, not really seeing what she was looking at, her mind wandering back to the previous few days. She'd met very few of her daughter's friends before this weekend. Oh, she had known June Holton since she was a baby and had watched her grow up right alongside Edith, the girls best friends all the way through high school. She had met Emmett Ward and Mother and Barney during the admittedly too infrequent occasions she and Joe had traveled the little more than three hundred miles to visit their daughter. Likewise Leslie, though he'd made only a token appearance when delivering the food for supper yesterday, she'd met and spoken to by phone on occasion. The only other person who she'd been acquainted with prior to yesterday was Frank Gunn, she and Joe having met him almost two years ago when they'd all shown up to visit at the same time after Peter had proven himself innocent of a murder conviction. Edith had mentioned several of the others to her on occasion but she had paid very little attention to the girl's words.

When June had telephoned the middle of the week to tell her about the baby shower she "and the girls" were planning, Mary Grace had at first been unsure about attending. She figured June was contacting her out of politeness, but the young woman seemed sincere in her invitation, saying she was welcome if time and weather permitted. Once here she was surrounded by Edith's best friends and apparently those of Peter Gunn too and she wasn't quite sure what to think anymore. It would appear, despite all of her preconceived notions, that not all of her daughter's friends were beatnik musicians and saloon singers and her son-in-law's weren't all shadowy gangsters and underworld figures – or strange characters who showed up at his door at odd hours and spoke a few words to him before money exchanged hands. And not just small money, but ten dollar bills! Mama had decided – from that one experience like that when she and Joe had paid a surprise visit several years ago – that those people must be snitches. At least that's what Sgt. Friday called them on _Dragnet_.

Eric Martin was Chief of Pediatrics and his wife Lauren was head surgical nurse in the pediatric ward, both at St. Francis Hospital, Mama had discovered. She'd had several very nice conversations with the pretty auburn-haired girl Saturday afternoon and again yesterday morning, discovering that Lauren and Edith had met while Edith was in City Hospital that horrible time she'd been shot by some hoodlum involved with a gangster who was out to get Peter. Mama had never heard the full story of that incident and still had no desire to. The entire episode had merely given her one more reason to take exception to her daughter's relationship with Peter Gunn. But she found she quite liked Lauren and Eric.

Likewise, Sheila and Danny Bell seemed a very upstanding couple. Danny was partner with his father in what Mama deduced was one of the top plumbing companies in town, Sheila was a seamstress who worked part time at a boutique – she'd mentioned she met Edith when she visited the shop for the first time looking for a dress – and the couple had a toddler son named Adam who was a little over a year old. That was interesting in itself as Mama hadn't been aware that Edith had any close friends with children. Danny Bell was nice and reserved, as was his brother Harold who was seemingly deeply involved with Lynn Martel, but Sheila was just a smidgen too – Mary Grace cudgeled her brain for the right word – boisterous? But apparently the pretty dark-haired woman was Edith's best friend so Mama supposed that was all right.

The three women who worked at Edie's …

Mama decided it still felt strange that her daughter owned her own supper club that bore her name and was a self-possessed businesswoman, a far cry from the future she and Joe had envisioned for her. Well, she conceded, the future _she_ had envisioned. Joe was never surprised at anything Edith did and had never tried to talk her out of anything she set her mind on, not even objecting to her decision to leave home when she was only seventeen and fresh out of high school. How she wished the girl had stayed home and found a nice young man to marry instead of ending up with _this_ man, this Peter Gunn who brought so much tumult to her life.

Oh well, that was all water under the bridge she supposed. Not much to be done about it now except learn to live with it, which was easier said than done. Now what was it she'd been thinking about? Oh yes, the three women who worked at Edie's. Marge, Betty and Wendy – she had their first names down pat but couldn't remember which last name was attached to which first name. They turned out to be very nice women living quite normal lives. Marge and Betty had husbands and kids – Marge's husband hadn't been there last night because he was working, had someone said he was a musician? – and apparently Wendy was Barney's girl and everyone just knew he'd pop the question any day. And then there was Mother's friend Gussie Warnecke. Despite first appearances – which of course she herself never put much stock in, a person should never judge a book by it's cover! – she had turned out to be quite an interesting woman. Her deceased husband had once been known as the world's greatest human fly!

June Holton was dating Emmett Ward, Edith said it was serious. Mary Grace was glad June had found someone and that her life was happy again. The last time she'd seen June had been at her sister's funeral in April 1959. Barbara Holton, who'd been a couple years younger than June, had killed herself over a man. Edith had told her that in confidence and she hadn't repeated it to anyone. She was pretty certain Father David, who presided over the service, didn't know either. And not too many years prior to that Joan and Ken Holton had been killed in that horrific car accident, leaving their daughters without any family to know of. Mama had always liked Emmett. He'd be good for June. He would have been a good man for Edith, she pondered. But then again he was a musician. That type could be flighty. But from what she'd heard and read private detectives were much the same, always with a different woman depending on the amount of money in their pocket and what day of the week it might be. Joe kept telling her to stop listening to the stories Florence Jean continually spread, but her sister _was_ married to an insurance man and those people _did_ hire private detectives on occasion to investigate cases, so surely Gilbert knew what he was talking about.

She was pulled from her reverie as her husband appeared at the top of the steps leading down to the basement, Frank Gunn trailing behind him, both laughing at something one or the other said.

"Come on, Gracie. We'd better make tracks if we want to get home at a halfway decent hour." Joe smiled and picked up his wife's coat from the back of a chair, then turned his smile on his daughter as she, Pete and Mary Ann McAllister came into the kitchen from the back porch. "And we need to get all those things out of our trunk and back seat and into Pete's car before we head out."

"What things?" Edie wanted to know.

Papa merely winked and Mama only smiled. After helping with the transfer of boxes – several of which had to be stashed in the back seat between Frank and Mary Ann, who'd driven over in the younger couple's sedan – Pete decided the Pioneer wagon Edie had teased him about might be a sooner rather than later acquisition.

* * *

Edie heaved a loud sigh – she made good and certain it was loud enough for her husband to hear in the bathroom where he stood in front of the mirror splashing on some cologne – and tossed her favorite blue maternity skirt over the back of the bedroom chair to join three other skirts and a yellow dress. Things that fit fine just two weeks ago were a size too small today! She grumbled to herself and pulled a rose colored skirt from the closet. She'd bought it at Chadwick's on Friday, surely _it_ would fit.

"Tell me again why we're getting all dressed up."

She knew why. Unfortunately she was in one of those moods of frustration that seemed to come over her so suddenly lately. Sheila told her it was hormones and she'd get over it soon but that didn't make it any easier. Because when she was frustrated with herself she became irritated with Pete, sometimes for the smallest reasons. She found a white blouse and slipped it over her head without undoing the buttons.

On the drive back to the apartment, after seeing Mama and Papa off from the new house, Frank had said he wanted to treat his one and only favorite daughter-in-law – oh, and of course his son, too! – to lunch at a nice restaurant and then make another stop afterwards before heading to the airport. And yes, Pop promised, he and Mary Ann _would_ actually get on the plane this time! They had checked out of their rooms at the Blair House Hotel first thing this morning, dropped their luggage off at the airport and returned their rental car before taking a cab to the apartment in time for breakfast.

Edie stepped into the bathroom and nudged Pete aside and reached across the counter for her hairbrush, giving her hair a few strokes while checking her makeup at the same time. Her eyes on the mirror, the watched reflection-Pete move to stand behind her, saw and felt his arms encircle her bulging waistline and shivered as his lips found the side of her neck in just _that_ place. The hairbrush fell to the counter as she leaned back against his chest and gave in to his ministrations. The PI raised his head and gave her a smile, their gazes meeting in the mirror.

"Do it again," the blonde grinned, her head against his shoulder. "I dare you."

"Hold that thought," he murmured against her temple. He grabbed his jacket from the suit rack, slipping it on as he urged her toward the bedroom door, then paused with his hand on the knob. "Behave yourself at lunch and you might just get more than a kiss," he promised, leaning in to offer the aforementioned caress to the tip of her nose and eliciting a frustrated glare.

Thirty minutes later Pete glanced around the dining room of the Riverside Restaurant. It had been a while since he'd been here, at least four or five months, but he'd frequently brought Edie here when he had lived in the apartment on Ellis Park Drive. It was a nice place to eat, not overly fancy but not too relaxed either, the kind of establishment where you could take your best girl for a leisurely dinner or an important client for a business lunch. He'd always liked the place and it had been close to home at the time, though it was sometimes a shade too crowded for his taste. They'd caught it on a good day.

"I managed to find this place back again one day last week while Mary Ann and I were out reconnoitering," Frank Gunn said, giving the woman in question a quick smile. He reached to pat her hand where it rested near her glass of iced tea on the dining table, his twinkling gaze taking in her chestnut hair and dark hazel eyes.

Pete felt Edie nudge him with her elbow. She gave him a mischievous look from behind her menu as she opened it, tipping her head toward the older couple and offering up an engaging grin. "Reconnoitering?" she mouthed with a silent laugh.

"I remember the broiled scampi from the time you brought me here, must be five or six years ago now." Frank flipped open his menu and scanned the lunch offerings. "I'm glad to see they still offer it, makes my mouth water just thinking about it." He pointed it out to Mary Ann. "I bet you'd like it just fine too, honey."

Mary Ann arched one slim eyebrow and tried not to smile.

"I think I'll try the broiled rainbow brook trout." She frowned suddenly and gave Edie a look across the table. "They don't serve it whole do they? I love fish and I enjoy fishing but I don't like them looking at me while I eat!"

"Oh, I know! There's nothing quite like that one beady eye staring up at you while you're deciding where to stick your fork first." Edie shook her head and chuckled. "The trout is really very good here."

By the time the waiter appeared to take their order Pete had opted for the broiled seafood combination plate and Edie spaghetti with garlic and oil. Homemade Italian cheesecake, one of the restaurant specialties, rounded out the meal. Pop enjoyed the cake so much he ordered an entire one to go, saying with a wink that it would provide a nice snack on the flight home, especially since they'd be sitting in Chicago for three hours. It was sure to make the other passengers jealous!

Conversation traveled a winding road during dinner. Edie brought up the ideas she had running through her head for the small extra room next to the kitchen in the house on Maple Street – "We talked about making it either an office or a sewing room. But now I'm thinking a play room would be nice. Mr. Downy gave us the original blueprints last week and that's what it was initially used for." – and Pete answered Frank's questions about the job he'd been working late into the night on Friday. Pete discovered that Mary Ann was teaching at his old high school this school year – "I'm just subbing this term, but since I'm doing it for English, American Lit and British Lit it means I'm there just about every day. I managed to take some extra time off since I'm not scheduled to fill in until next Monday." – which brought about discussion of some of Pete's former teachers who were still there after all these years, the PI commenting that old Mr. Hershey must be getting long in the tooth and bringing laughs from both Mary Ann and Frank. They also had a good back-and-forth about the literature currently being taught in high school.

Frank refused a refill when the waiter came by, sliding his coffee cup aside as the young man placed the bill face down next to his plate and departed. He rested his forearms on the table, clasped his hands with fingers intertwined and cleared his throat. Loudly.

The PI gave his father an inquiring look, easy to interpret for those who knew him even though his expression barely changed. His arm found the back of Edie's chair, his hand resting warmly on her shoulder as she finished the last bite of her dessert.

"You two probably won't be doing much traveling in the next few months," Frank Gunn observed, allowing his gaze to encompass his son and daughter-in-law.

"Probably not," Pete agreed.

"Hmm. Well, Mary Ann and I would like you to be there when we get married. Unlike certain people whose names shall remain anonymous – " Pop chuckled and leaned back in his chair at Pete's sour look, " – we'd like to have at least a couple family members present to enjoy the happy proceedings." He reached for Mary Ann's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"You name the time and place, Pop. We'll be there."

"Fine, that's just fine, son."

Frank sat up straight, kissed Mary Ann's hand and released it. He looked at the lunch tab and reached inside his suit jacket for his wallet, placing two paper bills on the table and adding a respectable tip as he pushed his chair back and got to his feet.

"Two o'clock at St. Mary's." St. Mary's, which the elder Gunn frequented on the occasions he'd visited over the years, was the small Catholic church down the street from Pete's old apartment on Ellis Park Drive. Frank glanced at his wristwatch, pulling out Mary Ann's chair and grinning smugly at the surprised-but-not-surprised expression on Pete's face while Edie exclaimed delightedly and rounded the table to give Mary Ann a hug. "That gives us twenty minutes – and we do have our flight to catch afterwards so it won't be anything elaborate. Father Julien said he'd be happy to conduct the ceremony. And can you believe it? He's not even making us go to couples counseling first!"

* * *

Edie paused in her perusal of the contents of the medium-sized brown cardboard box she had been handed by Pete. It was the first she'd opened of those that Mama and Papa Hart had transferred from their Ford to the Plymouth earlier that day. It seemed like years ago now that they'd all gathered for breakfast and then trooped to the new-old house in the nice original section of town, yet in fact it had only been about nine hours. And yesterday's baby shower seemed nothing but a dream.

"We need to pick up thank-you cards, we used the last few we had after Christmas." She smiled appreciatively at the aroma of the fresh brewed coffee in the mug Pete placed on the aptly named table nearby. "Maybe you can do that when you stop by the bank in the morning. Ashley's Flowers has a good selection or you could try out that new Hallmark store. Either one should have an area of cards just for baby shower thank-yous."

The man in question demurred, saying they could run both of those errands Wednesday either before or after meeting with Mr. Downey to close on the house.

Edie put aside the first box after sifting through the contents, smiling and making a few comments to Pete along the way. It was mostly filled with books that had no doubt been given to Mama by her sister Emilie Dunn. The sisters were as different as night and day about most things, including their reading interests. Aunt Emilie had once confided to Edie that she passed her books to Mary Grace just to see how many different faces and nit-picking comments she could make while looking them over to see if there were any she might actually read.

The second box wasn't as heavy as the first and was also somewhat smaller. Pete placed it between them on the sofa and watched Edie peel away the wide brown tape and pull open the flaps. She lifted out several items of baby clothing – a one-piece blue coverall and white shirt combination with race cars embroidered on the bib, a two-piece top and bottom in light blue with white anchors embroidered all over the sleeveless shirt, a one-piece sleeper in royal blue with white trim and a navy blue romper with a sailboat on the front. There was a shirt and pants set, the shirt red and white striped and the pants dark blue with a white pattern of train engines, several light blue t-shirts and a blue patterned onesie. The clothing ranged in size from newborn to about nine months. Last out of the box was a light blue hand-knit baby blanket made from the softest of yarns, a blue knit cap and matching blue socks and mittens.

"I suppose I should go ahead and ask the obvious question." Pete scratched his nose and somehow managed to keep a straight face. "Why is everything blue?"

"Didn't you read Mama's message in _Millions of Cats_?"

At her husband's blank look Edie pointed to the short stack of books sitting among the other baby shower gifts on the dining room table. Pete said he thought he'd read them all but admitted he'd been distracted by a pretty blonde lady sitting beside him at the time.

"_Millions of Cats._ I think it's at the bottom of the stack."

Pete pulled the book from beneath the others and looked curiously at the mostly orange and yellow cover depicting an old man followed and preceded by a bunch of cats. After skipping through the pages and glancing at the curious black-and-white illustrations he flipped to the front of the book. His mother-in-law's almost perfect cursive script flowed across the inside of the cover. _"To our first Grandson ~ This was one of your mother's favorite books when she was a little girl. We know you will learn to love it just as much as she did and will learn to appreciate the lessons it teaches. You are well loved by your parents and you are a very special little boy to us. We love you very much. ~ Gramma and Grampa Hart, January 7, 1962."_

The PI was speechless for a moment. Mary Grace Hart had that effect on him. Most of the time he didn't know where he stood with her and he tried to just roll with the flow. Other times she said or did something that made him wonder if he'd fallen asleep like Rip Van Winkle and woken twenty years later to a strange new world in which Edie's Mama actually liked him. He gave himself a mental shake, his wandering thoughts not answering the question of why Mrs. Hart had come to the conclusion that he and Edie were having a boy. His gaze was filled with amusement as he looked at his wife.

"Has Mama become a clairvoyant?"

"She said Granny Hart read it in the cards."

"I thought you didn't believe in that stuff."

Pete chuckled at the expression that crossed her face at his words. He'd heard all about how Joe Hart's mother – Edie's Granny Hart – had been taught the art of reading cards by her own mother and how Granny Hart had in turn taught Edie. Joe didn't think much of such things. Mary Grace publicly poo-pooed the idea that there was any meaning in what the cards supposedly said but she did admit that her mother-in-law was uncannily right some of the time. Joe said those times were just pure coincidence and that card reading was innocent entertainment as long as it wasn't taken seriously.

"I don't. At least not since that time I read my fortune and the cards said I should be with Lawrence Welk." Edie offered a disarming grin. "I knew then there couldn't possibly be anything to it."

"If it's a girl no one will know for six months because she'll be wearing boy's clothes."

"You're a nut." The big grin reappeared. "In any case we'll be well prepared when we _do_ have a boy. Did you see the note Granny Hart pinned to the blanket?" She handed him a slip of flowery paper that carried an elusive aroma of something, maybe nutmeg? "That and the socks, mittens and cap are from her. She knitted them herself, which is amazing considering how bad the arthritis is in her hands."

"_I'm_ a nut?" Pete read the note and smiled. Old Mrs. Hart might be eccentric but she did carry a soft spot in her heart for 'Edith's man'. "I think that deserves a special thank-you card and a box of those chocolate Turtles she likes so much."

"Maybe we should open another box."

Several more were unpacked, both too large to look through comfortably on the sofa so Pete knelt on the floor and pulled off tape while Edie sat on an ottoman watching. Both issued forth various odds and ends and more books. There were packages wrapped with colorful paper and tied with ribbons that had cards attached and appeared to come from extended family, Pete suggesting his wife could open them tomorrow when she was less tired.

There was one last box, not quite as large as the previous two, bulky but not heavy, the flaps neatly tucked into each other. Pete set it on the coffee table and they opened it together. After a moment the PI carefully lifted out the contents and set it on the sofa.

"Oh, Pete." Edie ran tender fingers along the side of the woven-wood baby basket that had been carefully packed within crumpled white butcher's paper. It was obviously old but looked like it had recently received some tender loving care along with a fresh coat of pale yellow paint. "I'd forgotten all about this. Isn't it the sweetest thing?" She gave her husband a tremulous smile. "It belonged to Grandma Kelly and she passed it on to Mama. Jeff and I were both brought home from the hospital in it."

Peter Gunn gazed at his wife and decided then and there that Mama Hart deserved a box of chocolates, too. Maybe a double-decker. And a nice bouquet of flowers along with it.

"This has been a strange and wonderful day."

Edie's soft voice interrupted his thoughts and he smiled. It had indeed been quite a day, with Pop and Mary Ann's impromptu marriage ceremony topping that list of strange and wonderful things. Perhaps spontaneous to him and Edie, it had apparently not been so to the older couple. Pop said that once they realized they had spent the requisite amount of time in the state to apply for a marriage license they had talked it over and decided to do just that. He'd then contacted Father Julien and made arrangements for him to conduct the ceremony following the prescribed two day waiting period before the license could be put to use.

Frank Gunn had come to know Father Julien Wilkins during his visits to see his son and – for close to seven months now anyway – daughter-in-law. Wilkins had replaced Father George Eckers at St. Mary's Catholic Church about three years ago when Eckers retired. Father Julien was barrel-chested and silver-haired, a jovial, red-nosed man who instantly made guests feel comfortable in his presence. The ceremony, not too long and not overly serious, had been the perfect combination of solemnity and laughter. He'd provided coffee from a big silver urn afterwards and had chatted amiably about this and that before seemingly with much reluctance announced he had a christening he needed to prepare for. Immediately following all the legalities Pete and Edie had chauffeured the newlyweds to the airport, where Mary Ann had discovered with astonished delight that Frank had changed their three hour wait at Chicago's Midway Airport to a four day visit to the Windy City. Edie had stood with Pete for several minutes at one of the airport's big windows following good-byes, watching the airplane until it was just a tiny speck on the horizon.

"We need to pick up packing cartons somewhere."

Edie looked on as Thomas, the ginger-colored cat, appeared out of nowhere and found his way into a box, his tail peeking up above the cardboard. Apparently finding nothing of interest, he leaped out and rushed to pounce on the little brown dachshund snoring soundly in his bed beside the desk.

Pete smiled fondly at his wife. She'd thrown off her skirt and blouse as soon as they'd gotten home in exchange for pajamas, a warm robe and a pair of his socks. Her face was free of makeup, her hair falling in a golden veil just past her shoulders, still a little damp from a shower and curling in all the right places.

"And we need to – "

"We'll get there, honey." He leaned in and placed a kiss on her ever-so-inviting lips. Not just a strange and wonderful day, he decided, but a life too. A life more wonderful than he'd ever imagined. "We'll get there. We have all the time in the world."

* * *

_(Referenced episodes: Walter Girard hires Pete to rid his home of an ex-con taken in by his daughter Lois in"The Heiress" S2 EP37; Edie is shot in "Vendetta" S1 EP 36; Pete proves himself innocent of murder and armed robbery in "Sentenced" S2 EP20; Edie's good friend June Holton asks for Pete's help in a case involving the suicide of her sister in "The February Girl" S1 EP30; Gussie Warnecke's husband is murdered in "The Leaper" S1 EP15; Edie reads her fortune in the cards in "Skin Deep" S1 EP29.)_


End file.
